Chapter 181: The Final Stage [@Thomasinho and @Alexis_Tegip Golden Ticket Bonus - ]

Chapter 181: Chapter 181: The Final Stage [@Thomasinho and @Alexis_Tegip Golden Ticket Bonus Chapter]

"Heh! You really thought you could try to trap me again!"

Alex snickered, his sound sharp and cold in the thin air at the top of the maze.

"If you hadn’t pissed me off so much before, I would have let you be my pet, but that ship has sailed long ago, so—"

They started fighting again.

Both figures zipped across the top of the maze walls at high speed.

The spider still tried to use the flying beasts that circled above to attack Alex, but the result was always the same.

Alex cut them down with precise strikes.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Wings and bodies fell toward the distant floor far below.

[ You have killed a Eagle. lvl 7 ]

[ You have gained 3 XP ]

[ You have killed a Vulture. lvl 5 ]

[ You have gained 2.1 XP ]

[ You have killed—

[ You have gained—

The spider would need a strong monster on its own level if it wanted to hinder him now, and it could not afford the time required to summon or control something that powerful.

Alex would not give it that time.

BAAANGGG!

The maze ended abruptly.

They came out into an ancient city biome.

Crumbling towers and broken streets stretched beneath a sky that looked older than the one above the forest.

Dust and the scent of long-dead stone filled the air.

Collapsed archways and shattered statues littered the ground.

It seemed the battle was entering its final stages.

Far away in a different biome, Zara felt the sudden spike of excitement through the Shadow Bond.

Her steps slowed for half a second.

The emotion that reached her was sharp, focused, and almost hungry.

She could feel Alex’s pulse through the link, steady and rising.

’He’s getting farther away again...’

A flicker of annoyance crossed her expression.

She had been closing the distance for so many minutes continuously, cutting through everything that stood in her path, only to feel him pull ahead once more.

The bond was no more restricted and so she could feel that he was deep in a real fight, and he was enjoying it.

Zara’s eyes narrowed.

She adjusted her direction and increased her speed without another word.

In the private viewing chamber, the feed shifted to the ruined city.

The sudden change of biome silenced several conversations at once.

Vespera’s gaze stayed locked on the screen.

Alessio’s hand rested on the armrest.

His expression remained controlled, yet the slight forward lean of his posture betrayed how closely he was watching.

Valeriana’s amusement had long since faded.

She watched the boy and the wounded spider with a colder calculation.

"He’s still going, and look at that speed! It just increased!" Velen leaned forward in his seat with bright eyes.

Ella was also watching just as closely.

Across the Human Empire the public squares and taverns erupted again.

"They’re in a ruined city now?!"

"What the hell is that place?!"

"The spider is still alive after all that?!"

"Look at the Third Prince, he’s not backing down at all!"

Alex and the spider collided in the heart of the broken city.

Ancient stone shattered under the force of their exchanges.

Debris and dust filled the air with every clash.

Several Proving participants who had been exploring the same biome suddenly found themselves in the middle of the battlefield.

A group of three youths rounded a collapsed tower and froze as a flying beast carcass crashed into the street only meters away.

"Shit! Let’s get out quickly!" One of them shouted.

Another pair was nearly crushed when a section of wall exploded under a sweeping leg from the spider.

BOOM! CRACK! BAM!

"Wha—!"

"Noo—!"

"RUN—!"

A CBI official moved through the chaos with blinding speed.

Each time a participant was about to be caught in a fatal trajectory that could have killed them, the official pulled them out of the arena before the impact could land.

The process was so fast that most of the youths only registered a sudden shift of light and then the safety.

Alex paid the side events no attention.

His focus stayed locked on the spider.

The creature was bleeding from multiple wounds.

Its severed legs remained bound in web, but the remaining limbs still moved with dangerous speed.

Pink eyes glowed with pure killing intent.

Every psychic pulse it released was met by Alex’s own Psychic Element, the two forces grinding against each other in the space behind his eyes.

Alex decided the time for measured exchanges was over.

"Let’s end this..."

"[Shadow Mantle]"

His own shadow rose like living ink, climbed his legs, torso, and arms in a single smooth wave, then sank inward.

The temperature around him dropped.

The spider’s senses flared out of control as its body shuddered.

A sharp thrill ran through Alex’s body in every pathway as the Shadow Element merged with his body.

His Strength and Agility surged hard.

For a brief window the gap in pure physical speed closed completely.

In the next heartbeat Alex’s speed actually surpassed the spider’s briefly.

The change was immediate.

Alex became a blur.

Amethyst Paradox worked in tandem with his strongest skill.

His chain-scythe struck from angles the spider could no longer track cleanly.

Its chitin cracked and more dark blood sprayed across broken stones.

The spider tried to force another full-power psychic lock, but Alex’s counter held and Adaptation refined the defense even further under the pressure.

"SCREEEEEEEEEEHHHHHH—" The spider screeched and lunged with everything it had left.

Alex met it head-on.

Mana flooded into his weapon and both arms at once.

He poured more power into the strike than he had used in any previous exchange.

The air itself seemed to compress around the blade as it descended.

SLASH!

A massive arc of pure mana tore through the spider’s body from shoulder to opposite flank.

Chitin, flesh, and internal structure parted under the force.

CRACKKK! BURST! SQUELCH!

Dark blood erupted in a wide spray.

BURST! PSSSSSSSSSSS!

The spider’s pink eyes widened for a fraction of a second.

It had never expected this puny human to have another trump card left in his arsenal, and that was its biggest mistake.

Then the light in them went out.

The massive body collapsed onto the broken street with a heavy, final impact.

THUD!

Silence settled over the ruined city for a long moment.

"Huff.... Huff...."

Alex stood over the corpse, breathing heavily, Shadow Mantle still active around him.

The heavy pressure of the Psychic Element faded as the threat died.

Adaptation continued its quiet work, trying to decrease the pain of his open wounds.

He looked down at the dead spider and spoke in a quiet, almost casual tone.

"Told you the ship had sailed..."

In the private chamber the reaction was immediate.

Velen shot to his feet.

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!"

Ella did not stop him.

Vespera’s eyes closed for a brief second.

When they opened again there was clear relief in them.

Alessio allowed the smallest smile to touch the corner of his mouth before his expression returned to its usual controlled neutrality.

Valeriana’s face remained carefully blank, but the tension in her jaw said enough.

Across the empire the public feeds exploded with noise.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH—!!!"

"He killed ittttttttt—!"

"The Third Prince actually killed that thing!"

"Did you see that last strike?!"

"Shadow Mantle... that was Shadow Mantle?!"

"THIRD PRINCE! THIRD PRINCE!! THIRD PRINCE!!!"

Alex dismissed the Shadow Mantle and let the element settle back into its place.

The class awakening process was going to start soon.

He had finally won.

The final stage of this fight was over.

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End of Chapter 181: The Final Stage

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